Vegan Restaurants in New Orleans

Vegan cuisine isn't what comes to mind when I think of New Orleans. From crawfish étouffée to shrimp creole, and jambalaya to po boys, New Orleans isn't the most vegan-friendly city I have been to. But even though Louisiana signature cuisine is pretty much off limits to vegans, vegan food can still be found here. Here are my top 5 vegan-friendly restaurants in New Orleans!

The Gumbo Shop - 630 St Peter St, New Orleans, LA 70116

  You cannot visit New Orleans without trying some gumbo and po boys, vegan or not! So the Gumbo Shop, located in the French Quarter, was a must as that was the only place I knew of that had either one. The gumbo soup was seasoned with creole spices and filled with red beans, rice, and okra while the po boy was white sandwich bread filled with grilled vegetables. Both were light yet satisfying, perfect for lunch. The vegan/vegetarian menu is separate from the regular menu so ask for it upon arriving.

Dat Dog - 601 Frenchmen St, New Orleans, LA 70116

Dat Dog is another vegan-friendly restaurant perfect for lunch, with three vegan dogs on the menu. With Spicy Chipotle, Field Roast Italian, and Smoked Apple Sage veggie dogs, they give vegans interesting options rather than a plain flavored hot dog. For toppings there is a long list to choose from, making every dog unique to your taste. Out of the Field Roast Italian and the Smoked Apple Sage veggie dogs, the Apple Sage was my favorite, topping them both with ketchup, mustard, pickles and onions. The veggie dogs pair great with the seasoned fries too!

Mid City Pizza - 4400 Banks St, New Orleans, LA 70119

Mid City Pizza was one of my favorite restaurants to eat at while in New Orleans. In my opinion they not only have the best pizza in NOLA, but the best pizza I've ever had. I got the 18 inch build your own 5 topping pizza with daiya cheese, artichokes, green bell pepper, mushrooms, and black olives, and it was so big it took my boyfriend and I three meals to finish it all. We still had some the next day. Definitely worth $20.

Sukhothai - 2200 Royal St, New Orleans, LA 70117

Another one of my favorite restaurants, not only in New Orleans but in the world, is Sukhothai. It's a good thing I don't live in New Orleans as I would go broke here. They have an extensive list of vegan options so if you love Asian food this is the place to go. My boyfriend and I ordered the fried eggplant, glass noodles, and pad thai. If we hadn't discovered this restaurant on our last day in New Orleans, I would have loved to have eaten here more so I could try every vegan thing on their menu. Loved their large portions also. One thing to keep in mind is that they close in the middle of the day then open back up later, so check the times before you go to make sure they aren't closed.

Seed - 1330 Prytania St, New Orleans, LA 70130

The last restaurant is Seed. This is the only 100% vegan restaurant I know of in New Orleans. It makes it nice for vegans to go to a restaurant and not having to worry about if we can eat it or not. Here I tried the chili cheese fries, eggplant pomodoro which is basically fried eggplant over spaghetti, zucchini salad, and beignets. Yes, beignets! The only place in NOLA with vegan beignets, and is actually how I found out about this restaurant. My favorites were the salad and the beignets, funny because I don't like salad, but I loved the flavor the filling inside the zucchini rolls gave.

That is it for my top 5 vegan restaurants in New Orleans. It took my boyfriend and I forever to find vegan options so I hope this list helps hungry vegans in NOLA. Definitely give these restaurants a try for delicious vegan food! Also make sure to check out my New Orleans video on YouTube!

LONG BEACH VEGAN FEST | 2016

The Long Beach Vegan Festival took place at Rainbow Lagoon Park on a bright and sunny Saturday. When I say bright and sunny, I mean just that. The sun was so bright and strong I got sun poisoning, sunburned skin, an infection on my head a few days after the festival because the sun burned through my scalp (my skin is sensitive anyway due to acne medication), and as if the day couldn't sound any worse, I even passed out while I was ordering a brownie sundae!

 While it sounds like I had a terrible time, I didn't. It was my first ever vegan festival and it was filled with lots of laughs, good music, and of course, good food. The food was probably my favorite part of the whole day. I kept ordering food from various vendors even when I wasn't hungry, because I mean, gotta try all the options! I got a churro cupcake kebab, mini tofu poppers with sriracha vegenaise, maccachino (one of my new favorite drinks) which is mixture of maca powder, cacao powder, cinnamon, and almond or soy milk poured in a cup of ice, a mini acai bowl with an acai energy drink, falafel with vegan ranch, warm brownie sundae, spinach pakoras, samosas, veggie coconut curry, and aloo matar. I wish I could have gotten the vegan pizza but it was closed before I could get any.

There was also cute roosters, goats, and pigs that everyone wanted to take home. Non-food related items that I bought was an elephant keychain and elephant shorts, natural soaps that smells absolutely divine and work great for exfoliaion, and french scrubs and shea butter. Check out my vlog on my YouTube channel to see the day in action and check to see if there are any vegan festivals in your area. They are so much fun and are a great way to try new foods and products.